Conductor for wire-rod mills



(No Model.)

W. GARRETT.

CONDUCTOR FOR WIRE ROD MILLS.

No. 318,613. Patented May 26, 1885.

N. PETERS, PhowLimo n her, Washington. D1;

NllTED @TATFS Parent rricn.

WILLIAM GARRETT, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

CONDUCTOR FOR WIRE-ROD MILLS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 318,613, dated May 26,1885.

Application filed January 15, 1885.

.TO all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM GARRETT, of Pittsburg, in the county ofAllegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Conductors for Wire-Rod Mills; and I do hereby declarethe following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof,reference being had to the accompanying drawings,formingapart of thisspecification, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a set ofrolls provided with my improved guide. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of apart of the guide shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a crosssection on the linemx of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a cross-section on the line 2 z of Fig. 1. Fig.5 is a section on the line 3 y,- Fig. 6, a section on the line m,- andFig. 7, a section on the line 00 x of the same figure.

Like letters of reference indicate like parts.

My invention relates to an improvement in that class of guides forwire-rod rolls which is illustrated in Letters Patent of the UnitedStates No. 196,371, granted on the 28d day of October, 1877.

It consists in providing such a guide with improved means of adjustmentfor delivering the rods to different grooves or passes of the rolls, andin several details of construction, which will hereinafter be indicated.

An objection to the guides now in common use is that while they may workwell when delivering rods from a groove in one set of rolls to thecorresponding groove in the adjacent set, their action is imperfect whenone end of the guide is moved to deliver to a different groove. Thiswill beintelligible by reference to the drawings, in which A Bindicate'two adjacent sets of rolls of the usual construction,

each pair being provided with several pairs of grooves, a a a and b b b.The rodin the process of rolling is passed into one of the groovesbetween the rolls A, and in its exit therefrom enters a conductor, 0 D,which consists of a semicircular grooved or guttered guide, thepreferable shape of which is shown in Figs. 1. A, 7, and 5. The guide 0D extends from a point opposite to a groove of the rolls A to a grooveon the other rolls, B, and causes the rod, as it is fed from the former,to follow the (No model.)

groove of the conductor into the latter rolls without the necessity forfurther guiding. The initial direction of the rod is of greatimportance, for as soon as the end of the rod has entered the rolls B,the fact that it is fed from the rolls A more rapidly than it can betaken up by the rolls B causes the rod to rise over the rear side of theguide and to form an enlarged loop outside of it, as shown by dottedlines E in Fig. 1. The size of this loop increases until the end of therod emerges from the rolls A. The function of the conductor G D istherefore to start the rod in the right direction, and not to guide itcontinually during the rolling operation. It is usual to make thegrooves of the pairs of rollers A B of different shapes. For example, tomake the grooves in B oval, and those in A square or polygonal incross-section. The polygonal grooves, however, will wear better and lastlonger than those of a regular curvature, so that when one groove is toomuch worn to be useful the corresponding end of the guide 0 D must beshifted so as to guide or receive the rod into or from a differentgroove. Heretofore this has been done by providing the exit of the guidewith a pivoted tube, which is turned so as to point to one pass or theother as need be. The other end of the guide has been made movable bymounting it upon a slide on the cross-bar of the roll-frame. \Vhen,however, the pivoted guide-piece is turned so as to make the course ofthe conductor of irregular curvature, the rod cannot be fed regularlythrough it, but is apt to buckle or bend at the pivotal point, and toleave the guide prematurely before entering the second pair of rolls.Vhen the pivoted guide is turned from its normal position toward a newgr0ove,it will notpoint directly to the groove, but at an angle to it.This necessitates the enlarging of the opening of the guide-box usuallyat the end of the conductor, and causes the rod to enter the collar ofthe groove, thereby producing afin upon the rod. On entering thenextpass of the rolls this fin will produce what is commonly known as a badend upon the rod, and this bad end will prevent the rod entering thethird pass at all.

It is the object of myinvention to overcome these difilculties and toprovide a conductor which will deliver and receive the rod to and fromthe rolls in a normal line to any groove to which it may be adjusted.The conductor D is divided in the middle, as at d, and one of thesections, 0, thus formed is made of less width than the section D, sothat the former may be slid or telescoped within the latter. There is astand or support, F, upon which the lower guide-section, D, rests at ornear its outer end. The section D is there provided with lateral flangesd, which rest upon the stand F, and are provided with longitudinalslots, through which bolts f pass and aresecured to the stand F. Thesection D is thus movable upon the stand, and may be secured in anydesired position by means of nuts mounted upon the bolts f. Moving thesec- I tion on the stand will cause its mouth to shift in a trumpet orflaring form, as at D; but the arch so made is not completelyjoined, asin a tube, but is open on the outside, (see Fig. 6,) so

as to leave a small space for getting at the rod in case it shouldbecome kinked or buckled. The guide mouth-piece Dleads either directly iito the groove of the rolls B or, as shown in the drawings, into aflaring guide-box, G, which is mounted upon a slide, G, on the frame ofthe rolls, so as to be movable from side to side thereon. The guide-boxGis adjustably secured to the slide G by means of a bolt and nut, H, orother suitable clamp. The inner end of the other section, 0, which isthe mouth of the conductor, rests upon a suitable stand or support, F,and abuts against a guide-box, J, which is adjustably mounted upon across-bar, K, on the frame of the rolls A in a manner similar to thearrangement of the guide-box G. This box J may be formed of two groovedor hollow sections, j j, which are held together by a suitable band orsocket, as is clearly shown in the drawings, the ends of the sectionsbeing tapered and leading to the grooves in the rollers. The function ofthe guide-box J is to receive the rod from the 'rolls A and to deliverit to the conductor 0 D.

The end of the section 0 which abuts against the guide-box J is providedwith a cap or cover, M, which converts this end into a tubular or boxform, and is preferably made detachable from the conductor, as shown inthe drawings. In the latter case it consists of a simple plate, and itis secured to the section 0 by means of a band, a, which surrounds thesection and the plate and is tightened by a set-screw, N.

Other suitable means for fastening the cap M may be employed; or theymay be dispensed with altogether, and the cap kept in place by its owngravity. The function of the cap M is of importance, for the reason thatit serves as a guide to prevent the end of the rod from bending upwardout of the conductor C D, and thus losing the necessary initialdirection to guide it to the rolls B. This has been found to be aseriousdifficulty in the employment of guides of this class, and hasnecessitated the continual attention of the workmen to this point. Themouth of the section 0 is preferably provided with integral lateralflanges adapted to rest upon the stand F. These flanges are slotted andadjustably secured to the stand by bolts d in the manner and for thesame purpose as the arrangement of the flanges f and bolts d of thesection D. If, now, it be desired to shift the conductor so as toreceive or deliver the rod from or to a different groove-say to move themouth of the section 0 to an outer groove, a, on the rolls Athe bolt Lis loosened and theguide-box J moved to a proper position on the slide Kto center the guide properly with the groove. The bolts d are thenloosened, and the outer end of the section 0 is then movedcorrespondingly within the section D, so as to lengthen the diameter ofthe conductor.

The sections 0 and D are preferably straightened somewhat near theirends of union, so that they may be telescoped or slid apart withoutchanging their angles of incidence with the rolls. The same result mayhe had by making the inner end of the section D of considerably greaterwidth than that of the upper section, 0.

When the mouth of the section D is to be moved from one groove toanother, the guidebox G is moved, as before described, the bolts f areloosened, and the section is moved upon the stand F and again bolted atthe desired position.

The bolts f and the slotted flanges (1 may be omitted; but they are ofconvenience in steadying the conductor.

I do not desire to claim, broadly, a guide formed in two or moretelescopic sections, as I am aware that guides have been so constructedfor the purpose of increasing or decreasing the length of the samelongitudinally.

IOC

Having thus described my improvement, so 1 that others skilled in theart may manufacture and use it, what I claim as my invention, and desireto secure by Letters Patent, 1s

1. A guide for wire-rod rolls, consisting of a curved conductor formedof two or more 2. The combination, in aconductorforwire- In testimonywhereof I have hereunto set rod rolls, of the two curved sections 0 andmyhand this 12th dayof January, A. D. 1885. D, the section 0 beingcapable of being telescoped or moved within the other section,substantially as specified, said section D being supported by a stand orsupport and adj ustably attachable thereto, as and for the purposesdescribed.

4 WILLIAM GARRETT.

Vitnesses:

W. B. CoRWIN, THOMAS W. BAKEWELL.

